Suk Son Weisman Proudly Represents ICC Among All Women Chef Winners At The Second Annual United States of Umami Cooking Competition

On November 8th, culinary students from around the country gathered in Charleston, South Carolina to compete in the United States of Umami Cooking Competition, presented by Ajinomoto. Developed to strengthen the conversation around umami and monosodium glutamate, or MSG, the competition aims to educate culinary students on the science of umami while debunking the rumors and myths surrounding the ingredient.

This year, the competition challenged semi-finalists from America’s top culinary schools to create two original dishes highlighting umami, including one centered around a plant-based diet, and the other celebrating ethnically-inspired or regional cuisines. ICC was honored to be selected as one of the seven culinary schools, including Johnson & Wales University and the Culinary Institute of Charleston, to participate in the competition.

Through an internal selection process led by ICC’s Director of Culinary Arts & Technology, Chef Hervé Malivert, Professional Culinary Arts student Suk Son Weisman was selected from a group of applicants to represent ICC in the competition. (Suk was selected for the competition while a student at ICC, but has recently graduated from the program).

Judged on technique and taste, these culinary students went head-to-head in an exciting all day competition. After months of preparation refining her umami-rich recipes and one-on-one practice with ICC’s resident culinary competition coach, Chef Hervé, Suk Son Weisman took home the silver medal for the competition! We couldn’t be more proud to share Suk’s journey with all of you, and the recipes behind her innovative dishes.

Suk's Journey To Competition

Suk Son Weisman was born in South Korea and raised on her family’s farm. Her childhood was filled with learning about the different ingredients that grew on their farm like rice, shrimp, salt and garlic. Then, she would learn how to use those ingredients to cook in the kitchen with her mom, a chef herself! Though she had a strong desire to follow in her mom’s footsteps of becoming a chef, she spent 7 years working at Samsung to support her family. When she realized there was something missing in her life, she quit her job and moved to Hong Kong to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Chef. In Hong Kong, she worked at fellow ICC alumna, Judy Joo’s restaurant JinJuu, and Alvin Leung’s Bib n Hops for several years. After a dinner with Chef Judy Joo herself, she felt inspired to enroll at the International Culinary Center in New York City to pursue her culinary education and create a strong foundation in other cuisines & techniques. After completing level 4 of the Professional Culinary Arts program, she embarked on one of the most prestigious externships in the country—learning in the kitchens of Eleven Madison Park.

To create her dishes for the competition, Suk reminisced on her childhood and eating seasonal ingredients throughout the year. When her mom would cook meals for her family, it was always well-balanced and nutritious. Overall, her dishes were inspired by her mom’s cooking, as well as the movement towards healthy alternatives to red meat. Her Autumn Umami Shrimp Steak with Radish Purée, for example, was developed to present a dish naturally rich in umami flavor, but offered an alternative to meat.

In preparation for the competition, Suk trained one-on-one for months with our Director of Culinary Arts & Technology, Chef Hervé Malivert. Chef Hervé has coached many ICC students in competition to success including: Rose Weiss, winner of the 2011 Bocuse d’Or Commis Competition; Christopher Ravanello, Northeast Regional winner of the 2012 S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition; Colfax Selby, Northeast Regional winner of the 2015 S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition; Mimi Chen, winner of the 2016 Ment’or Commis competition; Nick Lee, winner of the 2018 United States of Umami Cooking Competition. Through working with Chef Hervé, Suk was able to hone her mindset for competition—practice timing, organize her thought process and understand what it really takes to compete in a major challenge. For instance, when through their practice sessions, they both felt that something was missing from her umami dressing. After brainstorming, they added coffee to the dressing, which balanced the sauce through its bitterness.

When we asked Suk what it was like to be selected for the competition, she remarked that she was “…Very excited and honored to represent ICC. When I first started culinary school, I was very nervous because English is not my first language. Sometimes, it was hard for me to understand what was going on in class, so I worked extra hard to study cooking, but also English. My instructors in class, Chef Jeff, Scott, April, everyone was helping me both in and out of class to explain to me if I didn’t understand something. I feel very lucky that I met them!”

Check out Suk’s delicious recipes below and you’ll see why these dishes received such high praise!

HELPFUL LINKS

SITE POLICIES

Want To Learn More?

Request More Information Today…

If you are a human and are seeing this field, please leave it blank.

Fields marked with an * are required

GET FREE INFORMATION

By submitting this form, you will receive information about programs and classes offered by the International Culinary Center according to the terms of our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

*

I Agree.

X

ICC CAMPUS CLOSED: All Classes Temporarily Suspended Until Further Notice